Technological Karma
by Craic agus Ceol
Summary: A Ben and Riley "How They Met" story involving a rainstorm, Star Wars references, and a broken computer. Slightly AU, for no cubicles are involved. Also contains a little h/c, because I can't keep it away.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n - I know, I know, I promised I'd post Ch. 2 of "Words, Words, Words". Unfortunately, my beta has been clobbered by college and real life in general, so the forthcoming chapter hasn't exactly been proofread yet. Anyway, I decided to post this as a peace offering. The plotbunny for this story attacked my sleep-deprived brain as I was working on Ch. 3 of WWW, and as a result I stayed up obscenely late to write and post it. This will be a two-part story that takes place about two years before NT 1. It's a Ben and Riley "How They Met" story, and it's a bit AU because there are no cubicles involved.**

**Disclaimer - I don't own National Treasure or Star Wars. I do own _Millennium Motherboards_, for what good it'll do me. Also, this has not been beta'd so any mistakes DO, in fact, belong to me.  
**

**A/n Pt. II - for those who are wondering, this is based on a personal experience. Most technology seems to self-destruct whenever I go near it; I've somehow crashed my laptop three times since I got it. Argh.  
**

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"It has to be raining. It just has to be raining," Ben Gates muttered under his breath as he navigated his car into a parking space. Rain was falling in sheets and Ben could hear the wind howling even from within the car. Ben glared at an inauspicious laptop on the seat next to him, obviously blaming it for his misfortunes. It had decided to crash in the middle of what could be a huge lead in the hunt for the Templar treasure, much to the annoyance of Ben, Ian, and the rest of the group. Of course, Ben's laptop wasn't the only available computer, but it _was_ the one that all the research was saved on, making it the single most valuable piece of technology in Ben's possession.

There had to be some sort of technology god conspiring against him, Ben decided. How else could he explain the sudden death of his laptop? The Technology Gods were probably angry with him; he'd finally gotten rid of all of his old floppy disks a few days ago. If not Technology Gods, then Ben had a serious case of bad technological karma against him.

And, of course, it had to be raining. It hadn't been raining when Ben had left his house. It had started halfway through the drive and had escalated to hurricane levels when Ben was almost to the store. Ben figured the Weather Gods had teamed up with the Technology Gods to make his day excessively difficult. Murphy's Law dictated that the one time Ben's computer crashed and needed immediate repair would be the one time that a horrific storm would hit Washington DC. Ben believed that the only way to spend a rainstorm was inside with a cup of tea and a large book, and he almost turned the car back on to go home and do just that. The only thing stopping him was his passionate – _not_ obsessed – need to find the treasure.

Ben eyed the storefront before him with slight distaste. Usually he would entrust his computer to a large store, like Best Buy. However, Phil had recommended _Millennium Motherboards _as downright amazing, with a genius tech support crew and an unheard of turnaround time. To Ben, it seemed to be a bit of a hole-in-the-wall, but he decided that he hadn't driven all the way in the pouring rain just to turn back now. He tucked the laptop into his jacket and opened the door.

Almost as soon as he exited the car, he was slapped in the face by the wind and rain. He hadn't seen anything like this storm in quite some time. Ben eyed the meter dispassionately, not about to run the risk of dropping the laptop so he could rifle through his pockets for quarters. After all, he didn't want to deal with the tech support just to hear that his computer had sustained water damage and was therefore unfixable. Ben really couldn't afford to buy a whole new computer, and the research on the hard drive was invaluable. Most of it was backed up somewhere, but the most recent information was not.

Ben shouldered his way through the door, relieved to be out of the weather. The interior of the store was small and a bit dark, with walls of software ranging from computer games to word processors. There wasn't much in the way of hardware, however, and Ben pegged the store as one that catered more to gamers. On one side was a desk with a cash register and a display advertising the imminent arrival of some new game. There didn't appear to be anyone else in the store, and Ben wondered for a moment if he had missed an "out to lunch" sign somewhere. Though wouldn't that require someone locking the door before they left?

"Yeah, it's normal. You just have to restart the computer," The sudden voice made Ben jump, nearly dropping the computer. Readjusting his grip, Ben pulled the laptop out from his jacket and tucked it more securely under his arm. He looked around the store, still not seeing anyone. For half a second, Ben wondered if there was some sort of computer god attempting to fix the laptop's problems through divine intervention. Maybe the Technology Gods were taking pity on him after he'd suffered through the wrath of the Weather Gods.

"Wait, what? That shouldn't be a problem. Why is that a problem? Are you running another program?" the voice said again. Ben frowned, trying to pinpoint the speaker. It was obvious he wasn't as alone in the store as he thought he was, and it was exceedingly obvious that the speaker was _not _a technology divinity.

"Have you been saving your work?" Ben's attention was drawn to the cash register, and he noted a telephone receiver. The cord connecting to the mouthpiece curled down over the other side of the table. Ben headed for the register, knowing that the tech support guy would probably be over there, if the phone cord was any indication.

"The printer doesn't matter. If you saved your work, everything on the computer will still be there when you restart it, no problem," The tech support guy was talking again, and Ben leaned over the counter hoping to catch a glimpse of him. What he saw was a mop of black hair.

"I'm positive. I restart my computer all the time," the tech guy said again, and Ben could practically hear him roll his eyes. The cashier and tech support was much younger than Ben had anticipated; he was probably in his late teens or early twenties. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground and leaning up against the back of the counter, with the phone tucked between his shoulder and his ear. As he was talking, he was deeply involved in a game of Tetris.

"No, you don't need to shut the computer all the way down. Just restart it. Do you need help with that?" The young man's tone was light, despite the earlier eye rolling. He sounded amicable enough, Ben decided. He just hoped that the younger man knew computers. Ben hoped to get his laptop back quickly so he could follow up on his newest lead. Even if it didn't pan out, Ben felt that every dead end narrowed the possibilities for Charlotte's identity. He knew he was close, so close he could almost taste it. The answer was right around the bend.

"Wait, don't..." the tech support grabbed the phone and leaned forward, obviously more interested in the conversation now. He heaved a sigh and took the phone off his ear. As he made to stand up, he caught sight of Ben looking over the counter.

"Hi, sorry about that; just another peon calling upon the services of _Millennium Motherboards. _We can fix anything, you know… except for our name, apparently. I told Colin to change it six times in the past week, and all he ever does is roll his eyes at me and tell me go restock _Warcraft III_," the teenager rambled, absently fooling with the phone cord. Ben noted his appearance in slight worry. The kid was dressed in a Green Day T-shirt and jeans – not exactly professional attire. His nametag had "Han Solo" printed on it upside down, though the teenager had pinned it so the name was right-side up.

"So what's wrong with your computer?" The kid asked, apparently having paused in his rambling long enough to realize that Ben was there for a reason. He patted the counter, indicating to put the laptop there. Ben obliged, turning the computer so the screen would be facing the kid. Han Solo, or whoever he was, opened the laptop and hit the startup button.

"It's just not working," Ben replied, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He knew he was about to get shown up by some kid in a computer store. It was no secret that Ben knew next to nothing about the intricate workings of computers. For all he knew about the history of the United States, he was lost when it came to hard drives and processors.

"Yeah, it just won't start. I keep getting this error message about a file being missing or corrupted," Ben offered a small shrug. Han Solo nodded.

"Oh yeah, I see. Poor girl," Han Solo patted the computer lovingly. Ben wondered if he'd inadvertently given his laptop to a crazy person. He was prepared to grab the broken piece of technology and bring it to the nearest Best Buy. It may be slower, but at least the people there seemed sane.

"Do you have any sort of antivirus software?" He asked, suddenly all business. Ben shook his head. He'd honestly never even thought of downloading antivirus software.

"Then I'd say you probably have some sort of virus or another. That shouldn't be too hard to fix, actually. I'll see if I can recover that file too. If I can't and I need to reformat the computer, would that be a problem?" Han Solo asked, opening a drawer on the other side of the counter. Ben could hear him rifling through it.

"What does that mean?" Ben asked. Han Solo gave him a look of disbelief, but he masked it quickly.

"I'll erase your hard drive and reinstall all the necessary components. Basically, you'll lose all your data but your computer should work perfectly," Han Solo explained. Ben sighed. He'd been afraid something like that would happen.

"Well, mostly everything is backed up so it wouldn't be too much of a problem. I'd really prefer it if you didn't, though," Ben replied, running a hand through his hair. Losing his most recent data would most likely force him to backtrack a bit. While he wasn't on a particular deadline, the setback would definitely annoy everyone.

"Alright, I'll only do that as a last resort then. Here, you want to put your phone number down? I can call you when your computer is all fixed," Han Solo pulled a pad of paper out of the drawer and pushed it towards Ben. A second later, a pen rolled across the counter. Ben obliged.

"So I can expect a phone call from Han Solo?" Ben asked dryly. Han Solo laughed.

"Huh? Oh, no. My name's Riley. We all have nicknames because of the inanity that Colin calls a 'respectable store name'. I got to be Han because I'm the awesomest," Ben was about ninety-eight percent sure that 'awesomest' was not a word, but he chose not to comment. "We've got a Chewbacca and a Leia and a Luke, who are actually cousins so it all works out. And we call Colin 'The Emperor' behind his back. It's too bad he won't take on an assistant manager or something so we could call him Darth Vader. Or Anakin if he was cool."

Ben usually didn't tolerate that sort of incessant jabber, but he found Riley's anecdotes a bit amusing. It was probably his smile. Riley's smile was infectious and Ben found himself mirroring the gesture despite the dreary weather outside and the broken laptop. But Ben had business to attend to; he couldn't sit around and listen to a tech guy's work stories all day.

"So how long do you think it'll take to get my computer up and running again?" Ben asked, steering Riley back to the issue at hand.

"It'll take about a day I think, unless someone else calls because they failed to buy a computer terminal and their monitor won't work," Riley rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't believe some of the calls we get. I'm half tempted to tell them to go bother Best Buy, but we have a reputation to uphold as the fastest and smartest tech crew in the city. We can't be jerks just because people are stupid." Ben arched his eyebrows at the last comment and seriously hoped that Riley didn't consider him one of the stupid people. Enough people in the historical community considered him to be utterly insane, and Ben did not want to add to that number – even if Riley was just a techie kid in a computer store.

"How much do I owe you, then?" Ben asked. Other than that, he didn't have much else to say. He was still a bit worried about the 'stupid people' comment. Riley pondered for a moment.

"Well, we generally charge by the hour. So I'll let you know when you pick your computer back up. It's something like $50 per hour, but I probably won't go over that so don't worry about it. When you consider the prices you get at some of those other places, it's a steal here," Riley replied. "Hey, is the weather still frightful outside?" Ben blinked at the apparent non-sequitor.

"Yes, it's quite frightful," Ben replied, matching Riley's vernacular. The younger man grinned widely, amused that Ben was playing along with Riley's speech pattern.

"Damn. Biking home in the rain sucks. Ah well, hopefully it'll lighten up in a few hours," Riley mused, more to himself than to Ben. The phone rang, interrupting what could have been an awkward silence. Ben had figured leaving while Riley was talking would be a faux pas, but he really didn't have cause to stay in the store since his computer was in Riley's safe hands. Though Ben did admit that Riley was interesting to listen to.

"_Millennium Motherboards_, the Y2K bug has nothing on us! This is Riley speaking," Riley said, wincing a bit as he recited the standard store name and slogan. Ben also winced; the Y2K hysteria had died two years ago, making the slogan outdated, never mind the still-dubious store name. He could see why Riley might have a bone to pick with the store owner.

"OK, sir, just…" Riley paused, obviously interrupted. Ben wasn't sure what to do. Leaving would be awkward, as they had been talking. "Yeah, it's designed to do that… you don't need to do that! It's designed to do that! I… OK, stop shouting. It's supposed to do that! No, I understand, I…" Riley put the phone back on the receiver with a sigh. "I cannot believe two different people hung up on me in one day. Colin's going to be thrilled."

"Dealing with more stupid people?" Ben asked dryly. Riley smirked a bit, perking up at Ben's sarcasm.

"Yup. I'll have you know that your computer is most likely going to be the most exciting thing that I deal with today. Or all week, really," Ben was inordinately relieved by that. Riley didn't consider his technological problems stupid, which meant that, by proxy, Riley didn't consider Ben stupid. At least someone in the outside world didn't consider Ben absolutely insane.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," Ben said, offering a small wave. Riley looked up at him.

"Oh, alright! I'll give you a call when she's done!" Riley patted the computer again. Ben decided to forgive such eccentricities if Riley got the computer fixed. After all, his entire family was preoccupied with a supposedly-fake treasure; he could hardly judge Riley because he anthropomorphized computers.

Ben walked back out into the maelstrom, hoping that tomorrow would be better. At least he hadn't managed to pick up a parking ticket, though he mentally applauded any meter maids that were out in the weather. Climbing into the car, he hoped for a moment that the weather would let up so Riley could bike home safely. Scoffing at himself for worrying about a tech support guy he'd spent two minutes talking to, Ben drove home. A cup of tea and large book awaited.

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**Part Two will be posted soon-ish! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n - Ai. That's the last time I promise anything "soon-ish". I'm so sorry it took nearly three months to get this up and running, but it was seriously one of the most difficult things I've ever written. Three and a half rewrites later, I'm STILL not entirely happy with it, but frankly I can't figure out what I don't like and I figure it's as good as it's ever going to get. That being said, I seriously hope you enjoy the conclusion of this little two-shot!  
**

**Disclaimer - I don't own anything NT related. I do own _Millennium Motherboards_ and the majority of its employees. Oh, and I failed to mention this in the last chapter, but the conversations Riley has with the callers were shamelessly pilfered from the genius www(dot)rinkworks(dot)com, under the "Computer Stupidities" tab (I believe from the "Tech Support" subcategory, but I honestly don't remember). I honestly don't know enough about computers to even pretend like I know what I'm talking about.  
**

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Ben was eating lunch when his phone rang. He rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair to fish his cell phone off the kitchen counter. It certainly stood to reason that the phone would ring as soon as he'd sat down to eat.

He didn't recognize the number, which meant it wasn't a member of the crew calling because they had uncovered the secret of Charlotte. By process of elimination, Ben deduced that the caller had to be Riley, informing him that his computer was fixed and he could pick it up. The kid really hadn't been kidding when he'd said the problem would only take a day to fix. Maybe the bad karma, or whatever it was, that had crashed his computer had finally let up. After all, the weather had cleared up overnight – it stood to reason that the weather and Ben's computer were irrevocably tied. The Weather Gods and Technology Gods were thick as thieves, as far as Ben was concerned.

"Hello?" Ben answered, his mouth full of turkey sandwich. There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.

""Hi, are you Ben… Ben Gales? It's Riley, from _Millennium Motherboards_," the kid chirped. Ben was a little surprised. Riley hadn't been kidding when he'd said the computer wouldn't take long to fix.

"It's Gates, Ben Gates," Ben corrected. His handwriting hadn't been that bad, had it?

"That's what I thought, but no, Colin had to think the T was an L and put a post-it on your laptop saying it belonged to a 'Mr. Ben Gales.' And you were the only computer we had for repairs; it wasn't like he had to identify which computer in our cabinet belonged to which customer. He says it's company policy, but I think it's bureaucratic nonsense. Then he goes on to say he doesn't trust us and that we would steal a nice computer and replace it with a worse one, which is stupid because there's only five of us and we've all worked here a while and we've all demonstrated that we're nice, honorable people.

"But anyway, you're computer's ready. I didn't have to wipe the hard drive or anything; it was an easy enough problem to fix, and you shouldn't have any difficulties with it later. I put anti-virus software of my own devising on it, so you should be more or less entirely safe from viruses. Just don't tell Colin about that if you see him; he's going to want to sell you Norton or something, but I figure it's cheaper to get an awesome computer guy and hacker to hook you up with virus software."

"So I can come pick up my computer now?" Ben asked. He had honestly forgotten how much the younger man loved to talk. He was certainly amused by Riley's ability to ramble about nothing, but he wanted to get his laptop back so he could do more research. While Ian and the rest of the men appreciated the small vacation brought about by the absence of Ben's computer, Ben was eager for the hunt to start again. He wanted all of his saved research back so he could review it and see if anything caught his eye. Maybe all it would take was a day off and a fresh look to find the breakthrough he so desperately sought.

"Oh, of course! I did say I fixed it, didn't I? Best Buy has _nothing _on me. I could hack _rings _around those Geek Squad guys!" Ben could hear Riley bursting with pride. "They wanted me to work for them, you know. But then I learned that I would have to wear their stupid uniforms. Can you picture me in a Best Buy uniform? I'd rather wear a Darth Vader mask to a Trekkie Con." While Ben wasn't entirely sure what a 'Trekkie Con' was, he knew he'd have to take Riley's short pause, in which he was probably contemplating the described scenario, and interrupted.

"So I'll see you in a few minutes then," Ben said, attempting to give his voice an air of finality. He needed to get his laptop back, and he wasn't going to get anywhere if Riley talked his ear off.

"Oh, OK. Bye!" To his credit, Riley didn't seem to mind being interrupted constantly. As Ben hung up the phone, he wondered if the young techie was used to that sort of thing. The way he could sustain a one-sided conversation was remarkable.

As Ben pulled the car out of the apartment parking lot and into the street, he was amazed at how the weather had changed from yesterday. Today, the Weather Gods were smiling. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was a crisp, clear blue with nary a cloud in sight. The only sign of yesterday's deluge was some strewn debris such as leaves and small branches and an overall dampness in the landscape.

Ben pulled his car into the same parking spot as yesterday, and noted that the lack of storm didn't make _Millennium Motherboards _look any less dilapidated. It still had a distinct hole-in-the-wall appearance. Ben fed the meter a coin or two – he wasn't going to risk getting a ticket again, not when the day was going so well – and headed into the store.

Again, the interior of the shop was dark and quiet, except for the distinct trill of Tetris music. Ben headed over to the cash register, which was again unmanned. He suspected that Riley was again seated behind the register, out of sight behind the counter.

Ben leaned over the counter and his eyes met with the top of Riley's head. Sure enough, the young techie was seated behind the counter playing Tetris on a laptop. Oddly, he was playing exclusively with his left hand, tapping the arrow keys in quick succession as the colored blocks on the computer screen danced about. Ben cleared his throat and Riley's head snapped up.

"Hi Ben," Riley grinned up at him. "You made good time. I wasn't expecting you for another half an hour at least." Ben just stared. The right side of the kid's face was bruised and scratched, as if he'd had a personal encounter with pavement. His right arm, or what Ben could see of it, was injured in the same way.

"What happened to you?" Ben asked, frowning in concern. Riley definitely was not in peak condition and Ben wondered if he was even fit to work. The fact that he was playing Tetris with his left hand told Ben that the injuries to the right arm were painful and hindered movement. Riley worked in a computer store, which probably entailed some heavy lifting of certain hardware pieces. How could he fulfill his duties if he was so injured?

"I had a small bike mishap yesterday. Nothing to worry about," Riley gave a smirk and hauled himself to his feet. It didn't escape Ben's notice that Riley favored his right leg as well, going so far as to avoid putting any weight on it. The magnitude of his concern startled Ben a bit. After all, he'd only met the kid yesterday, and it hadn't exactly been anything more than polite conversation between an employee and a customer. Yet the concern Ben felt went beyond that of one person being startled by the appearance of another – Ben wasn't just going to shake his head and think, _that poor kid_. He wanted to know what was wrong and if there was anything he could do to help.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked.

"Yup. I made it here, didn't I?" Riley gave a small grin. Perhaps the oddest part was that Riley wasn't talking about his so called 'bike mishap'. Anything else and Riley probably would've given his two cents and then some. But when it came to crashing a bike and injuring himself? Riley played it off as no big deal. Ben heaved a mental sigh. Maybe it was no big deal to this kid. For all Ben knew, Riley went dirt-biking during his time off and had accrued many similar injuries.

"I'm sure you want your baby back. Hold a second; I have to fish her from the Cabinet o' Doom. I wanted to call it the Death Star, since it fits in with the whole Star Wars theme, but Liam said that was stupid because the cabinet doesn't fire lasers or anything, so Rochelle gave it a temporary name that hasn't really been replaced yet. Maybe I could jury-rig a laser or something. That would certainly deter those potential computer thieves that Colin is always talking about. You'd think that if someone really wanted to steal computer technology, they'd hit a Best Buy, or at least something bigger than us. You could seriously hit the jackpot there. What would you get here? Some games and a repaired laptop with some random people's pictures on it. Great stuff," Riley kept a cadence of words as he hobbled to the cabinet. He continued to refrain from putting any weight on his right leg, and Ben spied a set of crutches leaning unobtrusively between two of the display cabinets behind the cash register. He tuned out Riley's tangent. It wasn't as if the deluge of words was annoying; in fact, Riley's voice had particular cadence that was both easy to listen to and easy to ignore, depending on the situation.

Riley fumbled with the keys and pulled the door a few times, which refused to open. He sighed and glanced back at Ben. "This is why we call it the Cabinet o' Doom. It never opens. No amount of WD-40 can make it work for us. We asked Colin to replace it, but he said it wasn't in the budget or something. I think he just wants us all to suffer."

"If you don't like him so much, why do you keep working here?" Ben asked. Riley seemed very put out with his manager; every single one of his tangents seemed to involve Colin in some way, shape or form.

"Could you picture me at Best Buy?" Riley paused in his attempts at opening the door to give Ben a very wry look. Ben certainly could picture Riley working at Best Buy – but he could also picture the garrulous kid being fired for talking so much. But Ben also knew that Riley had a very low opinion of the Geek Squad, and answering 'yes' would not be taken kindly.

"Of course not," Ben replied. Riley rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah you could," Ben was amazed that the techie could read him so well. But then again, Ian had said many times that Ben's poker face was abysmal. "But you were trying to be nice since you know I don't like Best Buy, and I approve of that."

As he said that, Riley gave the cabinet handle a final tug and the door finally swung open. Unfortunately, Riley was already unbalanced due to his injured right leg and he hadn't been prepared for the sudden release of the cabinet door. He fell over sideways, forced to put more weight on his wounded limb in order to keep from falling. He also failed to release the cabinet door, as if he could rely on it to regain his balance, and the top hinge ripped off with a crack. Even then he couldn't entirely save himself and he hit the side of the counter hard.

Riley, for his part, didn't notice the damage done to the furniture and slowly slid to the ground next to the counter, releasing the broken cabinet door in favor of his right ankle.

Ben, for his part, stared as the scene played out almost in slow motion. He hurried to the end of the counter and leaned over, inspecting what he could see of Riley, who was tucked up against the counter and hissing in pain.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked, starting to move around the counter so he could get a better look at the younger man.

"Ow ow ow," Riley whimpered, unmindful of Ben's inquiry. Realizing that Riley was definitely not alright, Ben went around the counter and knelt next to him.

"Let me see," Ben said quietly, trying to pull Riley's hands away from his ankle. Finally Riley seemed to realize that Ben was there.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, his eyes finally meeting Ben's. To Ben's surprise, Riley's eyes were not just pained. They were also filled with relief, hope, concern, suspicion and the smallest hints of anger and trust. Ben was slightly taken aback. It was an odd mix of emotion, to be sure. In fact, several of them conflicted with each other. Yet Riley moved his hands slightly so Ben could roll up his right pant leg and get a good look at whatever injury Riley had attempted to hide.

"I want to make sure you didn't hurt yourself further," Ben left no room for argument. All he wanted was to make sure the kid didn't need a quick drive to the hospital.

"I'm OK," Riley replied. He didn't let go of his ankle, even as Ben tried to get a better look at the jean-clad appendage. "Colin's going to kill me." That little statement gave Ben pause. He shot Riley an incredulous look.

"Why?"

"Because I broke the cabinet," Riley waved his arm vaguely in the direction of the damaged cabinet. I blinked a few times. Riley was obviously injured, and he was worried he'd get in trouble for a cabinet? It wouldn't even be hard to fix, it just needed a new screw.

"You're lucky you didn't break something more serious. What happened to you?" Ben asked again. Riley heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes. Ben could tell that Riley had come to the conclusion that it would be easier to just explain everything than to put up with Ben's constant inquiries.

"It was really wet outside yesterday. Did you know that bike tires have a tendency to lose traction on wet surfaces when one happens to be travelling at a high velocity and attempts to make a sharp turn? Gravity is a bitch. So is inertia, for that matter," Riley still had a look on his face that suggested he thought Ben's concern was unwarranted. Ben, for his part, winced in sympathy. While his forte was in American History, he wasn't exactly a slouch when it came to physics. He deciphered Riley's nonchalant answer to mean 'my bike skidded out and I slid on the pavement for a few feet'. It also explained Riley's mystery leg injury. If his leg had been caught under the bike chain, there was likely to be a very nasty wound on the inside of his calf.

"Did you get it checked out?" Ben asked. Riley huffed in amusement.

"It's just some scratches. Besides, how would I have gotten myself to the hospital? My bike was more or less out of commission," Riley pointed out.

"But you made it here,"

"There's this thing known as a 'public transit'. It's not pretty, but it's cheap and effective. And you can meet the most interesting people, though today there was this total creeper that stared at me the whole time. Oh, and some lady insisted that her cat ride on the seat next to her. I have never seen an angrier-looking cat, even taking into consideration the fact that all cats look at least mildly irritated at everything. I mean, this cat looked like it would kill me if I had an untoward though about it. Or if I even thought about having such a thought. Heck, it probably would've killed me if I hadn't gotten off at the stop after the woman got on the bus," Ben figured that Riley was probably feeling better since he was rambling again. At the very least he wasn't in as much pain.

"What the hell happened in here?" Riley was interrupted by someone other than Ben. Judging by the irate tone of voice and the fact that Riley flinched and looked markedly worried, Ben assumed that this was the infamous Colin. Riley flailed about a bit, obviously with the intent of hauling himself to his feet. Ben didn't give him a chance to attempt it on his own; he grabbed the younger man by the arm and pulled him to his feet, mindful of the obviously-injured right leg.

Ben's first impression of Colin was that the man was not exactly someone to be afraid of. Colin was short and thin, with thin brown hair. He was scowling at Riley and Ben, and his entire face was flushed in anger. In fact, the effect was almost comical. Colin wasn't exactly on par with Shaw on the intimidation meter. Riley, on the other hand, seemed very worried about Colin's wrath, but he slapped on a nervous smile anyway.

"Hey Colin, I see your teleconference got out a bit early," To Riley's credit, his voice didn't shake at all. In fact, he sounded downright blasé about the situation. But Ben could tell that the techie was distinctly nervous about how the scenario was going to play out.

"I'm glad it did. What goes on here when I'm not around? You have a _customer _behind the _counter_! I can't even tell you how many company policies that breaks!" Colin seethed. "And what the _hell _happened to the cabinet?"

"Colin, it was just an accident. I can get it fixed easily," Riley attempted. Colin, however, wasn't having any of it.

"So you weren't trying to destroy company property? You certainly complained enough times about that cabinet," Colin snorted in disbelief. Ben fought the urge to stare open-mouthed. Surely an employer would listen to what his workers had to say. Shouldn't Colin have taken into consideration Riley's multiple complaints about the malfunctioning piece of furniture?

"I told you it was sticky, but you never listen to me! It was bound to happen sooner or later! Or would you prefer that I didn't give the nice man his laptop back?" Ben blinked once or twice. Whatever reaction he'd been expecting from Riley, it certainly hadn't been irritation. Colin's face seemed to get even redder.

"Poole, I've had enough of you! Every day it's your complaining and your ridiculous suggestions and your pointless stories! Why everyone else seems to think you're funny is beyond me!" Colin growled. "And your blatant disregard for company policy is disrespectful and grounds for termination! I said before, you'd better shape up or ship out, and it seems you chose the latter option!"

"Oh, so you're firing me?" Riley snorted. Ben figured it was beyond time to intervene. The last thing he wanted was to cost the kid his job.

"It's not his fault," Ben tried to be conciliatory, as if he was trying to convince a member of the historical community that the Templar treasure was, in fact, real. It went about as well as ever. "You see, Riley was just trying to help me out when…"

"I don't care!" Colin turned on Ben, his eyes flashing. "I gave Poole an inch and he took a mile! If he hadn't been our best, I would've turned him out months ago! I gave him more chances than you know, and he keeps pulling off shenanigan after shenanigan. I've had enough! Poole, collect your things and go. I'll call in someone else to finish your shift; I'll do it myself if I have to. Just go, and don't come back!" Riley just sighed as Colin stormed out of the store and back into his office. He sagged visibly, and Ben was tempted to grab the kid in case he collapsed.

"I expect you to be gone when I come back out of this office!" Colin opened the door for a parting shot, then slammed it behind him once more. Riley leaned up against the counter.

"I guess I should've seen that one coming. Sorry you had to witness it," Riley gave Ben a shaky grin. Ben just shook his head. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with Riley that would've been grounds for termination. Riley was cheerful and helpful over the phone when it came to other customers, from what Ben had seen – it wasn't his fault that the callers from yesterday didn't take his suggestions into consideration. And he'd managed to put Ben's computer back together in the space of a day. He'd even come into work visibly injured. Yes, Riley had trouble shutting up, but it was more amusing than annoying, and he never seemed angry whenever someone interrupted him. The cabinet was obviously an accident.

"It's fine. Are you OK?" Ben asked. Riley stared at him.

"You're asking me that now?"

"You did just get fired."

"He's been threatening that for a while. Like I said, I should've seen it coming."

"I can't help but feel partially responsible," It was true. Ben was, after all, the customer behind the counter that apparently broke company policy. Riley just frowned a bit, obviously not blaming Ben in the least.

"He would've used any excuse to get rid of me by this point. You were just a means to an end. At least it was a real reason, not because I broke a stupid cabinet that I could fix with a screwdriver," Riley shrugged. "Do you still want your laptop back? I think it survived me destroying the cabinet." Honestly, the computer had been the furthest thing from Ben's mind since Riley had fallen, and he couldn't care less at the moment. He was more concerned with the well-being of a tech support guy that he'd met yesterday. In any other situation, Ben would've found it bizarre that he cared so much. But Riley was just too friendly to brush off and forget about easily. His tendency to ramble was amusing and his computer skills were obviously unparalleled.

Ben suddenly wondered if there was space on his crew for a young techie.

"Here's your computer. I put my own virus software on it so you don't have to pay for any of that nonsense. Mine probably works better, too," Somehow, while Ben was thinking, Riley had slipped away and hobbled to the cabinet. He returned with Ben's laptop in hand. "You can start it up if you want, make sure that everything is where it's supposed to be. I hope you don't mind I took a quick peek at one or two of your files. I mean, who wouldn't be able to resist a folder labeled 'Treasure'?"

"You looked at that?" Ben asked. It was almost as if Riley had sensed the potential invitation to join the Templar Expedition and had decided to reveal the fact that he'd looked at Ben's files. Maybe the Technology Gods were trying to make up for the computer crash by offering Ben a computer whiz to make the technological aspects of the treasure hunt run much more smoothly. It was as good an explanation as any.

"Was I not supposed to?" Riley seemed faintly worried. Apparently the 'violation of privacy' idea had crossed his mind. In any other situation, Ben would've been quite annoyed at the idea of someone reading his computer files. In this case, he was more curious than anything else. How had Riley reacted to the notion that the Founding Fathers were embroiled in a Templar conspiracy?

"Technically no, but since you did…" Ben trailed off. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Riley echoed. He paused for a moment. "I think it's awesome. I mean, a thousand-year-old treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers, the only clue a cryptic piece of paper? It sounds like an awesome movie." Ben was relieved. At least there was someone out there that didn't think he was absolutely nuts. Of course that one person would have to be a techie who likened him to some sort of movie hero.

"Do you want to help?" Ben asked. Riley's eyes widened.

"Are you kidding?" Riley was vibrating with barely-contained excitement. Ben figured that had Riley been uninjured, he would've been hopping around the store. "Of course I'd love to help! First order of business is to organize your entire computer – I can't figure out how you can locate any of your data, it wasn't organized in any way I could figure out. Where's your headquarters? Can I meet you there? Do you have a team?"

"I…" Ben wasn't entirely sure how to respond to Riley's enthusiasm. It rivaled Ben's fascination with the treasure, but in a much more overt and exuberant manner. "We usually meet at my apartment. Yes, you can meet me there, I'll give you the address. And I do have a team."

"Can I meet them? Are they awesome? You don't already have a computer guy, do you? Do you have code names?" Ben began to wonder if he would come to regret having Riley.

"Yes, I suppose, no, no," Ben tried to intervene before there were more questions fired in his direction. He grabbed a piece of paper off the counter and scribbled his phone number and address down on it, along with the usual time that the crew met. Ben was planning on giving them all a heads up about the new addition to the team. He'd definitely have to warn Ian, who probably would not take too kindly to the excitable personality of the techie, never mind his tendency to ramble.

"Thank you so much, Ben!" Riley beamed at him, and Ben immediately forgot all his potential regrets. There would be no harm in having a computer whiz-kid. In fact, if he was able to get all the data straight then he would already be worth it. "I'll even bring chips or something. For the meeting, I mean."

"You'll be able to get there, right?" Ben suddenly realized that the kid no longer was in possession of his bike. In fact, he was injured.

"Oh of course. I have a car," Riley snorted. Ben blinked.

"Then why didn't you just drive today?"

"I'm not paying for gas just to go to work. I also have an extensive computer setup in the back of my van. I'd be too tempted to sneak out whenever business was slow – and it's always slow," Riley grinned. "I should probably get going. I mean, there's not much more Colin can do to me now, since he already fired me, but I don't want him to coerce me into fixing the cabinet or something."

"Good point," Ben agreed. "How much do I owe you for this?" He gestured to the computer.

"Consider it on the house," Riley shrugged. "I don't actually work here anymore, so it's not my problem." Ben just shook his head.

As they were leaving the store – Riley explained that he didn't actually _have _any belongings there, so there was no point in going to the back room – Ben realized that Riley still didn't have a way of getting home. His limp wasn't getting any better, either, though he tried his best to disguise the fact that he was injured. So Ben took it upon himself to make sure the computer tech got home safely, even if he thereby consigned himself to sitting in a car with a very talkative Riley Poole.

But in all honesty, Ben didn't mind. He liked the kid; he was smart and funny, and Ben figured he'd bring a sort of youthful exuberance that was missing on the team. It was interesting how a broken computer had lead Ben to finding a new member for the Templar Expedition. Maybe Ben's technological karma wasn't entirely as bad as he'd previously believed it to be.

Riley didn't seem to care that he was sitting in a car with a man he barely knew. In fact, he was downright thrilled about it. He chatted, not entirely caring whether Ben was paying attention or not. In fact he was talking more for the sake of talking over anything else. "It's awesome that you're driving me home. I mean, I never would've asked. That would be awkward. But I swear, if that cat lady was on the bus again I would've freaked out. I've dealt with some mean cats before, but her cat was the spawn of Satan or something. I always thought Liam's cat was evil, but the bus lady had a legitimately demonic cat. Liam's a guy I work with – or used to work with, as it were. He was Chewbacca, in case you're wondering. I'm going to kind of miss having people confusedly refer to me as Han Solo. I mean, Harrison Ford is awesome. I will be fulfilled in life if I can be half that awesome. Hey, will this treasure hunt be anything like an Indiana Jones movie? Well, anything like the first and last movie, the second one kind of sucked. The blonde chick in the second one was ridiculously annoying, and…"

"Riley," Ben said, attempting to keep the small, amused smile from playing about his lips, "shush."

* * *

**There you have it, the awesome conclusion. I hope you liked it!  
I have at least one or two more pre-NT short stories planned, but I can't make any promises about what they are about or when they might be posted. I'm afraid I'm a horrible procrastinator and perfectionist, and frankly the two traits don't coexist very peaceably.  
At any rate, I hope you enjoyed the story -- please leave a kind word on your way out!  
Until next time!**

**~Craic  
**


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